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Nintendo France says Switch will reach Wii-like levels of success through hands-on demos at all types of retailers
Coming from Philippe Lavoué, director of Nintendo France...
"Advertising is not going to do it all. There will be a lot of demonstrations in store. We cultivate our difference with a very different proposition from the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Our point of comparison is the launch of the Wii in 2006.
And in practice, the concept works! I use the first person as an exception to testify. As a seasonal job, I was recruited by Nintendo (before my professional editorial activity), at the time, to carry out Wii demos in supermarkets (Leclerc, Cora, Carrefour, Auchan, Franche-Comté region ). In the same way, only hundreds of other "animators", trained in Paris by Nintendo.
On the spot, unusual "clients" of the video games that tried the console left, immediately after, with their Wii under the arm, convinced by their test (Wii Sports). The phenomenon was, then, amazing, especially against the seniors (but not that ...), until then completely impervious to video games. In most cases, the players went away with a smile, seriously considering the purchase. A few days later, the Wii was unavailable in store. The consequences of the phenomenon of compulsive purchase after a few minutes of unexpected and welcome pleasure, in such a place (a big surface, at the time of the little stimulating weekly races ...)"
Nintendo will be setting up Switch demonstrations in multiple retailers, including some locations you might not expect to see gaming content. Electronics retailers like Fnac and Micromania will be in the mix, as will department stores like Leclerc, Carrefour and Auchan.